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Kingston Prison Farm Sanctuary Proposal

The Canadian government is considering reopening prison farms. The
following Prison Farm Sanctuary proposal was presented on August 16, 2016 at a
public meeting hosted by MP Mark Gerretsen and Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale (associated media release below).

My name is Franceen Neufeld. Along with my son Calvin Neufeld, I am the co-founder of the Suffering Eyes Project, an organization that supports farmed animal sanctuaries locally and around the world.

Getting your hands dirty and coaxing life out of the earth to feed
yourself and your community, represents some of the most valuable work
on the planet. The healing power of food gardens is well-documented,
including its radical impact on the long-term well-being of prison
inmates.

The farming of animals, however, is an entirely
different matter, and not one that would benefit either the prison
population or the community here in Ontario. Although conscientious
animal agribusiness encourages bonds of trust between caregivers and
animals, that trust is continually broken by a system that considers it
normal to forcibly impregnate animals, tear babies from their mothers'
sides and cut their lives short by violent death. Ultimately, farmed
animals are cared for only as long as their lives are more profitable
than their deaths.

What would raising animals for slaughter
teach inmates? A former teacher at Joyceville Institution told me that
she would hear the frightened cows wailing in the prison's abattoir. If
this was so heart-wrenching for her to hear, what was it doing to the
inmates whose job it was to kill them? Or to those whose job it had been
to care for them? Returning animal agribusiness to the prison farms of
Ontario would not nurture compassion. Ironically, and tragically, it
would force the suppression of empathy in those individuals who most
need to be taught empathy as part of their process of rehabilitation. If
prison farms are to be revived in Kingston, I urge you to consider
plant-based models only.

There is a way, though, for the "cows to
come home," and for inmates to experience the therapeutic power of
respectful and mutually beneficial interactions with animals. If you do
choose to bring the animals home, don't bring them home as commodities.
Bring them home as living beings with a right to justice and mercy, and
to the living out of their natural lives in peace and safety. Bring them
home to a prison farm sanctuary. What is a farm sanctuary? It's a
charitable permanent home for farmed animals, many of them rescued from
cruel living conditions of neglect or abuse. These sanctuaries exist
around the world, including locally. There is presently a desperate need
for more such sanctuaries in Ontario.

What could a prison farm sanctuary look like in Kingston? As one example, the Sheriff's Office Animal Farm
in Florida has built a highly successful and self-sustaining animal
sanctuary that helps foster strong and positive relationships between
inmates, animals and the wider community. The farmer who has run the
sanctuary for the past 10 years told me that interest in their prison
farm model has poured in from around the world. She described how the
unconditional love that the inmates experience as they care for these
injured, abused and abandoned animals, changes them and makes them
better people. Kingston is uniquely positioned to demonstrate strong
rehabilitative leadership by becoming the first Canadian city to emulate
and adapt the vision of the Sheriff's Office Animal Farm. The Kingston
Prison Farm Sanctuary is eminently doable as a self-sustaining,
rehabilitative and ethical venture. A prison farm sanctuary, combined
with plant-based agriculture, represents a win-win solution for
Kingston.

Considering the strong emotion and indomitable dedication of the Save Our Prison Farms
movement, surely we can rally together to truly "Save the Herd," and to
inspire inmates with an experience of kindness and rescue that leaves
no room for violence. A farmed animal sanctuary is the only model that
can achieve this.

– 30 –

MEDIA RELEASE

PRISON FARM
SANCTUARY A WIN-WIN FOR KINGSTON

KINGSTON, ON. August 16, 2016. City Hall was filled to capacity
as over 250 community members gathered for a meeting hosted by MP Mark
Gerretsen and Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale to discuss the feasibility
of reopening prison farms at two Kingston penitentiaries. While opinions were
shared for and against restoring prison farms, a third option was proposed to
model the farms as animal sanctuaries. Franceen Neufeld and Calvin Neufeld,
co-founders of the Suffering Eyes Project that supports farmed animal
sanctuaries locally and internationally, presented their Prison Farm Sanctuary
proposal as an ethical alternative to the conventional agribusiness model.

“What
would raising animals for slaughter teach inmates?” Franceen asked. “Ironically,
and tragically, it would force the suppression of empathy in those individuals
who most need to be taught empathy as part of their process of rehabilitation.”

In his
comments, Minister Goodale emphasized that the Liberal government’s priority is
the rehabilitation of offenders through the teaching of life skills, employment
skills and empathy. Their feasibility study was designed to investigate the
potential of prison farms to accomplish these goals while being financially and
environmentally sustainable.

“I’m
convinced,” reflects Calvin Neufeld, “that the Liberal government holds it
equally important that their undertakings be ethically sustainable.”

Animal
welfare is a mounting public concern as awareness grows of the environmental
and health impacts of the meat and dairy industries, and the ethical issues
complicit in farming animals, which even in optimal circumstances necessitates
forced confinement, the manipulation of sexuality, the breaking of familial
bonds, and ultimately, the taking of life.

In her
proposal, Franceen described how a former teacher at Joyceville Institution
told her that she would hear frightened cows wailing in the prison’s abattoir.
“If this was so heart-wrenching for her to hear, what was it doing to the
inmates whose job it was to kill them? Or to those whose job it had been to
care for them?”

The
Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm in Florida was cited as an example of a highly
successful and self-sustaining prison sanctuary, receiving international
acclaim over the past decade for their innovative approach to rehabilitation. “The
Kingston Prison Farm Sanctuary is eminently doable as a self-sustaining, rehabilitative
and ethical venture,” concluded Franceen. “Considering the indomitable
dedication of the Save Our Prison Farms movement, surely we can rally together
to truly ‘Save the Herd,’ and to inspire inmates with an experience of kindness
and rescue that leaves no room for violence. A farmed animal sanctuary is the
only model that can achieve this.”

Support the Suffering Eyes Project

All proceeds support farmed animal sanctuaries. To date, the Suffering Eyes Project has donated a value of $20,050 in books and funds to sanctuaries worldwide. This project is sustained entirely by donations. Click the button below to donate by PayPal. For more options, visit our Donatepage.